The Leader
by XBrokXenX
Summary: He felt him go down before he saw it. In fact, he didn't even see it at all.


He felt him go down before he saw it.

In fact, he didn't even see it at all.

It was amazing, the connecting Leo had to his brother. Actually, all of the brothers had a supernatural link with one another. But Leonardo's sense had always been extraordinary. He was, after all, known as the spiritual one of the clan.

Sometimes, in extreme cases, he could physically feel the pain of one of his brothers. This was one of those times. It happened suddenly, like a sudden jolt of electricity through his system, and then it was gone. In the same moment, an image of his direct younger brother filled his mind, and Leonardo knew exactly who had bestowed him the unpleasant message. _Raph_..

Still, he lingered for just a moment. He was gaining a lot of ground against the Foot and didn't want to give up the offensive just yet. Raphael was a fighter, the toughest of his three younger brothers, and the most headstrong. He could take a lot. Yet, Leo had an uneasy feeling in his gut, and he wasn't sure if Don or Mikey had witnessed it either. Grudgingly, he decided he needed to see for himself if for nothing more than to put his own mind at ease.

Leo threw a smoke bomb into the faces of his enemies as cover before making his escape from the top of a building down an old gutter pipe. He headed east, the last direction he'd seen his red masked brother, careful to stay in the shadows so no undesired company would see him and follow.

He discovered Raph lying on an old fire escape four stories up. If it wasn't for one of the red warriors sais that had slipped down into the alley below, Leo might have missed him altogether. All thoughts of stealth forgotten, Leo pocketed the fallen sai and ran up the rusty metal stairs to the landing on which his brother lay. Raphael must have detected him coming, but unable to see that it was Leo, stiffened his grasp on his remaining sai and tried to sit up. The moment Leo reached the fourth landing Raph slashed his sai forth. It caught Leo by surprise, but the strike was weak and older turtle easily evaded.

"L-Leo?" Raph slumped back down. "Boy…glad ta see ya!"

"Raphael... What happened Bro?" Leo reached out to Raph, eyes deep with worry as he took in the sight of his brother. Raphael's plastron had a been stricken with something hard, shattering it in a spider-webbed manner the size of Leo's closed fist on the middle left side. Leo winced looking at it. He'd never seen such a crack. Every time Raph's chest rose with a breath, the shell would open, and close when the breath was released.

"Rocksteady.." Raph grimaced as he spoke and his eyes remained pressed shut. His voice was wheezy and exhausted with the pain. "Some new gun...didn't see it before-" A spell of coughs disrupted his explanation. "Before I charged… the lucky bastard."

Leo shook his head. How many times had he told Raph not to rush into battle blind! Oh, of course, he didn't notice the gun! Raph never saw anything but a fight! Blinded by the hatred toward the Foot Clan, his mind was always set on the same task: Destruction. Not a worry in the world for his own safety or well-being.

The leader was removed from his thoughts by a weak coughing sound coming from the turtle beside him. It sounded pitiful. Leo's heart sank. He was angry at his brother, but that anger was easily exceeded by his concern.

"The blow knocked me… four feet back. Sent me over the ledge. He thinks… he finished me off." Raph smirked, "I 'aint that easy."

Leo however, found no amusement in the situation. "Raph we can't wait here, are you fit to move? There's a manhole just one street over."

"Always up for… a challenge." He wheezed in reply.

"Come on" Leo crouched down on the side farthest from the crack and pulled Raph's right arm over his shoulders. "Ready? We'll stand on three. One…two…three!"

"GAAHHH"

Raphael groaned as Leo straightened his legs, dragging his younger brother up with him. He felt Raph helping at first, but once he reached full height his brothers strength gave out and he collapsed. Leo fought to keep control but ultimately had to lower Raphael back down onto the landing. The both sat there a few moments, each turtle trying to catch his breath from the effort.

"My bad…Leo. I thought my leg… could take it."

Confused, Leo looked down at his brother's limb and, sure enough, the area just above his knee was swollen and blue. He mentally slapped himself. He'd been so occupied with Raphael's cracked shell Leo hadn't even bothered to check Raph for other injuries before attempting to move him.

"No Raph, that one is on me. I'm sorry Bro, I should have noticed."

"Think I hit it on a rail… when I fell."

"Raph, why did-"

But Leo's question was cut short by the sound of voices on the roof above. He stared at Raph, and Raph stared back realizing the severity of the situation. The enemy was directly above them. They needed to move. Now.

Leo stepped to the window of the apartment they were outside of and peered inside. The place was dark and empty. If he could just find a way to get Raph inside, they could wait the situation out until their brothers arrived. The only problem being the only small window was five feet off the ground, and Raphael could not yet stand. Leo could maybe lift Raph up and into the window, but once through Raph would face a five-foot drop onto an already cracked shell. He looked down at his injured brother and gave him an apologetic frown, but Raph responded with a look of both understanding and determination.

Leo sighed and reached around his belt for his lock pick set. It was a gift from Master Splinter the day he allowed the boys to go topside for the first time. The rat knew it would come in handy for his sons, and it had many times. As Leo worked, Raph settled himself back into a sitting position. The voices from above were closer than ever. Rocksteady's deep, Russian, voice was loud enough to make out some of the words.

"…direct hit sir…mortally…others expected…"

When he finished opening the window, Leo kneeled down next to Raph. "Here's the deal, I'm going to hoist you up on my shoulder and carry you to the window. You will need to put your legs through the window first. It's going to hurt. There is a drop, but it's not too far. Try to catch yourself on the other side with your good leg and use the wall for support. I'll be in right after you.

Raph nodded and Leo got into position. He hoisted the younger turtle up by the arm and with a hop, threw Raph's body across his shoulders. The move was rough though Leo had attempted to be as gentle as possible. Raphael gasped and let out an anguished cry at the pressure on his plastron against Leo's shoulders. Leo cringed at his little brothers' pain and rushed to the window.

The plan worked as well as anticipated. Raph caught himself on his good leg, but his balance was unsteady. He body tilted back away from the wall and he was forced to step back. His damaged leg could not handle the weight and gave out immediately, causing Raph to collapse onto his shell, roughly jostling his chest injury.

Shock quickly filled his facial features, but it lasted only a second before it was displaced by a look of pure agony. Leo watched as Raphael's mouth opened ready to cry out. Reacting fast, Leo leaped over to his brother and put his forearm into the open mouth. Raph bit down hard, piercing the blue-clad turtle's skin, but Leo was successful in muffling his sibling's cry.

He leaned over into Raphael's ear and whispered, "Shhhhh. Raph, the pain is a state of mind... It will pass… it will pass Raph…"

And it did, at least enough for Raph to spit out Leos' arm. Leo pulled his now bleeding limb away but continued whispering calming words into Raphael's ear, who hissed out each breath he took.

"Dammit… hurts…" he rasped.

Leo's first move away from Raph was to reach his shell cell. Leo fumbled with it a moment looking for the distress signal. It was easier than talking on the phone, plus it let his absent brothers know their situation was critical. Ignoring his own pain, Leo then moved to reexamine his brother's wound.

 _Oh, man..._

The shattered area of Raph's plastron had expanded outward another two inches due to the force of his landing. The injured turtle eye's remained squeezed tightly shut, and he wheezed air in and out of his gaping mouth as though he couldn't breathe.

"Stupid… leg... stupid… window…stupid Shredder…"

"Save your breath, Raphael."

Leo was worried. First aid was not his strong suite. He began to unwind the wraps around his own wrists to use to use to add some support to his brothers crackling shell. Raph whimpered as Leo leaned him forward slightly to wrap the cloths around his torso. "You're doing good, buddy. No bullet is stopping you." Leo said. But he was growing more and more troubled by the second. Raph's breathing was still wheezing short breaths in and out as though he couldn't get enough air.

"I'm sorry… Leo. I should have… scouted it out… better."

"Raph, stop talking. Deep breaths, you can do it. Easy, easy now."

The red-clad turtle proceeded to wheeze with his eyes clenched for several more moments.

"Dizzy..."

"That's because you're not breathing right, Raph." Leo continued fussing over his brother. He tilted Raph's head back slightly, hoping to open up a wider airway. It appeared to help, but only minimally. "Look, Don will be here shortly. Mikey too. You know how Donny is always better at these things. He'll know what to do. And Mikey, he always knows just what to say. Just a few more minutes, okay buddy?"

"…Raph? Do you hear me?"

No reply. Leo panicked when Raph failed to respond. The younger turtle was unconscious.

 _Dammit Don, where are you?_ Leo was frustrated but felt a twinge of guilt as he remembered the battle he'd left to go find Raph. Mikey and Don had likely had to pick up the slack in the absence of Raph and himself. _They're coming_ , Leo reminded himself. _Ugh, come on Leo! Think! How can you be useful?_

That's when the idea hit him.

He didn't know anything about cracked shells or shortness of breath, but there was one thing he was still good for. Leo breathed in deeply through his nose and slowly released it through his mouth once; then again. He needed to calm the tension in his body so that his mind could concentrate enough to perform the ancient Healing Hand technique.

 _Rin._

 _Pyo._

 _Toh._

 _Sha._

Leonardo felt his body begin to drain as the space around his hand filled with healing energy. It was working. Still breathing deeply, he continued;

 _Rin._

 _Pyo._

 _Toh._

 _Sha._

 _Kai._

 _Jin._

 _Retsu._

 _Zai._

 _Zen._

He could sense his spirit being absorbed by Raph's body. The process was draining, and it wouldn't be enough to heal him completely, but it would help. At least buying his brother more time if nothing else. Leo repeated his mantra nine times through before allowing himself a peak.

Raphael's deep frown had softened. The red-clad turtle seemed to be sleeping peacefully, although his face remained so pale that he almost looked yellow.

 _I'm sorry I can't do more, bro._

Suddenly a loud bang of creaking metal reached Leo's ears. He froze. Someone was coming down the fire escape outside the window. Loudly stomping down the fire escape, that is.

Reluctantly, Leo moved from his brother's prone side and pressed his shell against the wall in the shadows. He readied his katana to attack. The footsteps paused outside of the window, and Leo gripped his katana tighter. The window soon tore open and Leo launched himself at the figure that came through, his weapons blaring. His assault was cut short, however, by a 6-foot bo staff.

"Don?"

"Leo!"

"Annnnnd Mikey!" Mikey shouted, introducing himself as he too barreled through the window. "Where's Raphie?"

Leo nodded in the direction of the turtle in question and accompanied Donatello as he went to his side. "He's hurt pretty bad. He said something about a new gun Rocksteady had on him."

"Yeah dude, we saw it too! It took Don and I like forever to take him out!"

"Wow, his shell is cracked rather severely," Don said as he removed the cloth Leo had wrapped it with. "It'll be a nightmare to mend. Mikey, do you mind going back for the Shellraiser? It should be just a few streets over. I'd rather not carry Raph any farther than we must."

"Not a problem, bro," Mikey said, reaching out to pat Raph on the arm before he left. "Hang in there, Raphie."

"Did he say much when you found him, Leo?" Donnie asked

But Leos mind was somewhere else. As he watched his younger brother Donatello care for Raph he felt so incredibly relieved. Don's hands were gentle and certain. He seemed to understand precisely what to do where Leo knew nothing.

"Leo?" Don reached out and set his hand on Leonardo's shoulder "Leo. You did great. Raph's okay."

"He's okay?"

"He will be. It's a good thing you found him. He would not have been able to put up much of a fight against Rocksteady or the foot on his own. They were scouring the alleys when we got here. They would have found him for sure. Leo, really, you did good."

Leonardo looked down at his injured brother. His breaths were still wheezy, but Don had situated him in a way that seemed to relax him. He watched as Don began to carefully slide Raph's kneepad off on his bruising leg, mumbling something about it being easier with Raph unconscious. Leo smiled. He may not be able to do it all, and as a leader sometimes that was troublesome to admit. But Leo knew as long as he had his brothers, together they could do anything.


End file.
